Texas finished a historic run to the Big 12 championship game with a 6–3 win over the Oklahoma State Cowboys at ONEOK Field in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Sunday.

The Longhorns, who finished the Big 12 regular season in fifth place with a 26–25 overall record, rode the backs of their pitchers to the championship game. Texas got three consecutive complete games from pitchers — senior Parker French, junior Ty Culbreth and freshman Connor Mayes.

Texas saw Sunday’s starting pitcher, right-handed freshman Kyle Johnston, pick up where the other three left off. Johnston threw five innings of one-hit ball before getting into trouble in the sixth inning.

“All of the four starters did an excellent job of getting their outs on time,” head coach Augie Garrido said. “[The pitchers were] pitching to contact, pitching without fear, showing a purpose on the mound, trusting their teammates behind them and going about their business of playing baseball.”

The Longhorns scored the first run of the game in the third inning. Junior left fielder Ben Johnson hit a one-out single and moved over to second on freshman shortstop Joe Baker's sacrifice bunt. Junior shortstop C.J Hinojosa hit an RBI single to center to bring Johnson home and gave Texas a 1–0 lead.

Johnston kept the Cowboys offense shut-down until the sixth inning, in which he issued a one-out walk to freshman infielder Jacob Chappell. The Cowboys followed the walk with a single from senior outfielder Gage Green. Oklahoma State tied the game on an RBI single by junior outfielder Corey Hassel.

The Cowboys continued their offensive push in the seventh inning. French came into the ballgame to relieve Johnston, as Oklahoma State loaded the bases. The Cowboys were able to score a run and take a 2–1 lead, but French was able to get the Longhorns out of the inning only down one.

Down a run, the Longhorns offense exploded in the eighth inning. Texas took advantage of three errors and scored five runs on two hits to give it a 6–2 lead.

But Oklahoma State would try to rally in the bottom frame as it loaded the bases in the eighth. The Cowboys were able to score a run, but the Longhorns got off the inning 6–3.

Texas called upon senior left handed pitcher Kirby Bellow to finish the eighth and ninth innings and secure its fifth Big 12 Tournament Championship.

“I just went out there and trusted myself and focused on the glove and didn't worry about the runners,” Bellow said. “I just went out there and tried to do my job.”

Sophomore center fielder Zane Gurwitz was named the tournament’s most outstanding player. Gurwitz had two hits and two RBIs in the championship game.

While he earned the tournament’s highest honor, Gurwitz was quick to acknowledge his teammates efforts throughout the tournament.

“I have the easy part,” Gurwitz said. “My teammates in the eighth inning they got the bases loaded for me, they tied the game. All I had to do was put the ball in play, and I found a hole.”

Gurwitz, French and Mayes were named to all-tournament team alongside sophomore catcher Tres Barrera, senior second baseman Brooks Marlow, freshman third baseman Bret Boswell and Baker.

After dropping two of three to Texas Tech last weekend, Texas bounced back to sweep Oklahoma State this past weekend in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

Freshman Erica Wright pitched a one-hit shutout to start the series off for Texas (35–14, 10–5 Big 12) to grab an 11–0 victory over Oklahoma State (21–31, 3–13 Big 12) on Friday.

“[Wright] was really just beginning to get into a groove,” head coach Connie Clark said. “I thought her velocity was exceptional tonight, and with her movement, she was locating the ball well.”

On the offensive end, Texas continued to display a solid hitting performance this weekend. Coming into the weekend, Texas had outhit its opponents, .342 to .251, and the team continued to do so against Oklahoma State, outhitting the Cowgirls, .413 to .164.

The Longhorns complemented Wright’s pitching efforts in the first game, connecting on 11 hits, including three home runs.

After junior center fielder Lindsey Stephens and freshman third baseman Randel Leahy hit back-to-back home runs in the first, junior second baseman Stephanie Ceo eagerly joined in on the fun. With bases loaded in the top of the fifth, Ceo blasted a grand slam to left-center, Texas’ sixth of the season, to put the Longhorns in position for another run-rule victory.

“We were ready to hit the field from pitch one, and we were ready to fight,” Ceo said. “All of the preparation at-bat happens in the dugout and once you get out there, you just keep your eye on the ball.”

Sophomore Tiarra Davis took the mound in the second game. Despite battling injury all season, she struck out four and brought her record up to 5–4.

“For Tiarra to get in five innings today from the circle was really exciting,” Clark said. “I don’t know if she had her best stuff physically today, but mentally, that’s as good as I’ve seen her.”

From the plate, Ceo homered again while Stephens and sophomore shortstop Devon Tunning each went 2-for-4 to lead the Longhorns to victory over the Cowgirls, 9–0.

“Man, [Ceo] just saw the ball all weekend and was one of our strongest hitters,” Clark said. “Really happy to get that production from the bottom of the order.”

The third game wasn’t much different. Wright kicked it off with five strikeouts, one hit and two walks in four innings to improve to 16–6. Before the end of the game, senior Gabby Smith and sophomore Lauren Slatten also saw the mound and earned two strikeouts apiece to lead Texas to a 7–2 victory.

“It was a goal today going in to get Gabby and Lauren a little work, and that was accomplished,” Clark said.

The Texas men’s golf team claimed its third-straight Big 12 Championship on Wednesday. The Longhorns finished 24 strokes better than runner-up Texas Tech, breaking a Big 12 record. Four Longhorns finished in the top 10.

The No. 2 men’s golf team is victorious once again. On Wednesday, the Longhorns claimed their third-straight Big 12 title at the Big 12 Conference Championship in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

The team won in landslide fashion, finishing 24 strokes ahead of runner-up Texas Tech with a four-round total of 1130 (+10). With this win, Texas set the Big 12 record for largest margin of victory at a championship, breaking Oklahoma State’s 20-stroke record set in 2008.

“To have a 20-shot lead going into the last day is different, and that doesn’t usually happen,” head coach John Fields said. “A 72-hole event is also different — we only have one other tournament in college golf that is 72 holes, and that is the national championship. This is great preparation for us.”

The magnitude of Texas’ win is especially notable considering the tough course conditions. The tournament took place at Southern Hills Country Club, a notoriously difficult course.

“Southern Hills is a great golf course; it’s extremely difficult,” Fields said. “It was prepared so that it was at championship caliber. The greens were running at 12.5-13, which made the premium on accuracy — from the tee and the fairway — exceptional.”

Perhaps even more exceptional was freshman Scottie Scheffler. Scheffler earned medalist honors at the championship, finishing in first place on the individual leaderboard with a four-round total at even par. Scheffler is only the fifth player in Texas men’s golf history to win a Big 12 Championship.

“It feels great,” Scheffler said. “I got off to a bad start but was able to turn it around and start hitting some better shots. I’m really glad that the team was able to get it done after having a nice lead going into today. We have a lot of momentum going into the next tournament.”

Other notable performances came from sophomore Gavin Hall and senior Kramer Hickok. Hall finished two strokes behind Scheffler to notch a career-best second-place ending. Hickok finished in a tie for fifth, his second top-five finish this season. Sophomore Beau Hossler rounded out the top-10 finishes for Texas in a tie for eighth.

Next up for the Longhorns is the NCAA Regional Championship. Since it won the conference championship, Texas automatically qualifies for a regional tournament. The regional selection show will be broadcast live at 9 a.m. next Monday on the Golf Channel.

An investigation conducted by the dean of students office found no connection between UT’s chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon and a racist chant the University of Oklahoma’s SAE chapter was punished for singing last month.

A video of members of the OU SAE chapter singing a chant that included lynching references and anti-Black slurs went nationally viral in March. Three weeks ago, an OU investigation found the students learned the chant on a cruise sponsored by SAE’s national organization, its use was likely widespread.

Dean of Students Soncia Reagins-Lilly said an investigation into UT’s SAE chapter, launched in the wake of the video, found the chapter was not connected to the song.

“Following the events involving the Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) fraternity chapter at the University of Oklahoma, our office was made aware of online rumors of similar behavior at our local chapter of SAE,” Reagins-Lilly said in a statement. “Our review of these statements included contacting current organization leadership and speaking with alumni of different periods, who all stated no knowledge of the chant and that such behavior had no place in their organization.”

Reagans-Lily said the investigation was complete.

“At this time, our office has received no official complaints or reports of this behavior and found no evidence in our review,” she said.

The No. 2 men’s golf team earned a split Saturday at the Red Raider Shootout in Lubbock.

The Longhorns first faced No. 23 New Mexico, which they defeated in a tiebreaker. Redshirt senior Brax McCarthy finished square with his opponent, as did freshman Doug Ghim. The Red Raiders defeated senior Kramer Hickok and freshman Scottie Scheffler, leaving sophomores Beau Hossler and Gavin Hall to win it for the team in a tiebreaker. Hossler beat senior Sam Saunders, 6-and-5, and Hall beat freshman Gustavo Morantes, 6-and-4.

In the second match of the afternoon, Texas fell to No. 10 Texas Tech. Of the six Longhorns in competition, only Hossler and Hickok won their matches. Both won, 1-up.

Next up for the Longhorns is the Big 12 Championship, held from April 27–29 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

— Caroline Hall

Men's tennis

No. 10 Texas fell to No. 7 TCU by a score of 4–1 Saturday, its second loss in as many matches. The Longhorns’ match in Fort Worth was their final regular season match of the season, and the loss dropped them to fourth in the Big 12 standings. Saturday marked Texas’ second-consecutive conference loss, both against teams ranked in the top 10 of the ITA rankings.

Texas struggled from the outset against TCU, as the Longhorns lost the doubles point as well as the first two singles matches to fall behind the Horned Frogs, 3–0. No. 5 senior Søren Hess–Olesen was the lone Longhorn to win a match, defeating No. 44 senior Nick Chappell, 6–3, 6–4.

The victory marked Hess–Olesen’s 100th win at the singles position in a Texas uniform, making him the ninth player in Texas history to reach the 100-victory mark. Hess–Olesen holds a .730 winning percentage as a Longhorn, the highest winning percentage of any Texas player with 100 career victories.

The Longhorns (18–5, 2–3 Big 12) finished under .500 in the conference for the first time since 2011–2012. In a conference with four teams ranked in the top 10 of the ITA rankings, Texas holds the No. 4 seed in the Big 12 Men’s Tennis Championship, which begins Friday in Waco.

— Michael Shapiro

Track and field

Torrential rainstorms and more than a little bit of hail foiled many plans this weekend throughout the state. This proved problematic in Waco as the Michael Johnson Classic was forced to call it a day with five events remaining. But even storm fronts and nasty weather couldn’t stop Texas’ track and field team from gathering a couple more wins in what continues to be an impressive season.

Junior Courtney Okolo and senior Clint Harris won Texas’ two titles this weekend at Baylor. Okolo, who remains on the Bowerman Trophy watch list, won the 400-meter dash in a time of 50.99 seconds, the new Clyde Hart Track and Field Stadium record. Her teammate, sophomore Kendall Baisden, finished second with a time of 51.22 seconds.

Harris collected his first win of the season with a winning discus throw of 55.21 meters (181-2). He qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in 2012–2013 in the event and will look to get some more podium time in the coming weeks as the outdoor season heats up.

Next weekend marks a major benchmark for the team as the Longhorns head to the oldest and largest track and field competition in the United States. The Penn Relays, held at the University of Pennsylvania’s Franklin Field, have gone on since 1895 and have been known to attract more than 15,000 participants and
100,000 spectators.

— Bradley Maddox

Volleyball

Playing in a tournament for the second weekend in a row, Texas volleyball went 2–1 in the Lone Star Classic College Showcase in Dallas on Saturday.

The Longhorns got off to a good start, defeating North Texas in two sets, but then dropped their second match of the spring in a 2–1 defeat to Texas A&M. Texas rebounded with a two-set victory over Texas Tech.

The tournament featured teams from Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas.

The Longhorns will close out their spring season against UTSA at 7:30 p.m. Friday in Austin.

— Jacob Martella

Women's rowing

With the spring season heating up, Texas traveled to Clemson, South Carolina, to compete in the Clemson Invitational. The No. 14 Longhorns, who are ranked nationally for the first time since 2012, defeated five top-20 opponents and posted one first-place finish.

Saturday’s morning session included three battles between Texas and No. 10 Washington State in the varsity eight, second varsity eight and varsity four races. Washington State edged out the Longhorns to take first place in all three races. In each race, the Longhorns finished no more than a one-and-a-half seconds behind Washington State.

In the afternoon session, the Longhorns posted a time of 6:22.8 in the varsity eight but finished second. The second varsity eight took third. The varsity four and second varsity four teams both claimed second place behind Virginia.

The Longhorns began Sunday’s competition by challenging No. 12 Indiana in the varsity eight race, eventually finishing second. The Longhorns experienced similar results in the second varsity eight race, finishing second.

The Longhorns’ varsity four boat then took the first victory of the weekend, beating out Syracuse and Indiana to finish first with a time of 7:21.4. Texas closed out the weekend with a second-place finish against Indiana in the second varsity four race.

Texas will travel to Bloomington, Indiana, for the Dale England Cup next weekend.

— James Rodriguez

Freshman catcher Michael Cantu has made his presence known behind the plate, throwing out seven would-be baserunners this season.

The feat proved especially challenging Saturday, as Cantu displayed his defensive prowess against Oklahoma. In the sixth inning, a Sooner runner tried to steal second, but the freshman made a phenomenal off-balanced throw from his knees to senior second baseman Brooks Marlow for an inning-ending out. He followed that with another equally impressive throw from his knees to freshman shortstop Joe Baker later in the game.

“Cantu did a great job throwing people out at the plate,” sophomore pitcher Kacy Clemens said after the game.

Cantu, a Corpus Christi native, has thrown out seven runners attempting to steal on him this season. He’s hitting .265 on the season and is tied for third in the Big 12 in walks with 25. The 6-foot-3, 237-pound catcher has been a bright spot throughout the season — especially when the team overall is struggling.

Although Texas dropped two out of three against the Sooners, Cantu hit .500 and drew three walks. Head coach Augie Garrido said he was impressed with Cantu’s play.

“He threw out every runner that tried to run on him,” Garrido said. “He was a very mature baseball player. If we could get everybody particularly on offense competing the way he competes — they certainly have a leader and a model to follow in him.”

Cantu came to the team with high accolades. Before coming to college, he was ranked the No. 1 catcher in the state by Perfect Game USA. Perfect Game USA also named him an underclass second-team All-American in 2013 and a third-team All-American in 2014. The Texas Sports Writers Association named him a first-team all-state catcher in 2013 and second-team in 2014. Cantu was also drafted by Chicago Cubs in the 30th round in 2014.

Cantu has proven himself with his confident play from behind the plate. Cantu said that confidence comes from his trust in himself and his baseball ability.

“You got to be confident,” Cantu said. “I was always told that there’s no age in baseball. It doesn’t matter. If you can play, you can play. That’s the big thing: You got to have confidence and trust yourself and trust that what you’ve been doing that’s got you here will keep you going.”

Although he isn’t shy about his skill, Cantu also is quick to mention his teammates and throw the spotlight off himself.

“I’ve just been trusting myself and having confidence in my teammates,” Cantu said. “I threw a guy out that Joe [Baker] caught [against Oklahoma]. The ball was up the line, and he made a great play on it. It’s just trust in ourselves and trusting our defense.”

Texas (19–18, 6–6 Big 12) hopes to live up to that trust as they continue to battle through recent struggles.

Cantu and the Longhorns will try to break out of their slump in a three-game series against Kansas starting Friday at 6 p.m. in Lawrence, Kansas.

Following back-to-back sweeps against out-of-conference opponents , No. 10 men’s tennis will square off against No. 2 Baylor at the Caswell Tennis Center in Austin on Wednesday. Both teams are currently 2–1 in the conference and trail No. 1 Oklahoma by one match in the Big 12 standings.

Wednesday’s match will feature two of the preeminent tennis players in the nation as No. 5 Søren Hess-Olesen will take the court for Texas against Baylor’s No. 2 Julian Lenz. Lenz, a junior from Giessen, Germany, won four of his previous five matches before falling to Oklahoma’s Axel Alvarez on Friday with three of those wins coming against ranked opponents.

Texas’ contest against Baylor will carry extra weight for Hess-Olesen. The match will provide him an opportunity to secure his 100th victory at the singles position as a Longhorn. Hess-Olesen, who is looking to become the ninth player in the Longhorns’ history to reach 100 singles victories, has been stuck at 99 wins since his victory over Texas Tech on April 4.

With two matches left before the Big 12 Championships on April 24, Texas will look to secure its position near the top of the conference standings.

Oklahoma junior catcher Anthony Hermelyn was named the Big 12 Player of the Week after hitting .529 last week in four games.

Kansas’ freshman third baseman Matt McLaughlin and junior pitcher Blake Smith were named co-Big 12 Newcomer of the Week award.

This week’s awards were the first for Hermelyn, McLaughlin and Smith. This is Smith’s second Big 12 pitcher of the week award this season.

Losses create Big 12 chaos

Upsets this weekend set two top teams in the Big 12 back.

No. 8 TCU, the conference’s second-ranked team going into the weekend, lost two games against Kansas State. The Wildcats piled on 14 runs on 18 hits Friday in a 14–4 win over the Horned Frogs. TCU evened the series Saturday with a 9–0 win. However, Kansas State prevailed 6–2 Sunday, and the series loss dropped the Horned Frogs into a third place tie with Texas Tech in the conference.

Kansas (15–21, 3–6 Big 12) upset No. 15 Oklahoma State, dropping the Cowboys from sole possession of first place to a first-place tie with Oklahoma. The Jayhawks lost Friday’s opening game, 2–7, but rallied to win Saturday’s game, 3–2, and clinched the series, 4–2, Sunday.

The award honors the country’s best amateur player. The list will be cut to 30 players and semifinalists’ names will be announced on May 22. The winner will be named on June 23.

Big 12 teams remain ranked

TCU is ranked in the top 10 in four of the national polls, despite losing two games this weekend. The Horned Frogs are ranked as high as No. 6 in the USA Today Coaches’ Poll.

Oklahoma State is also ranked in four of the major polls, ranked as high as No. 10 in the Collegiate Baseball. The Big 12 has one other team ranked, with Texas Tech at No. 25 in Baseball America’s poll. Oklahoma received votes in two polls.

West Virginia opens new stadium

West Virginia opened a new baseball stadium this weekend: Monongalia County Ballpark.

The Mountaineers christened their new stadium with a 6–5 walk-off win against Butler in front of a record crowd of 3,110.

West Virginia went on to sweep the Bulldogs with an 8–0 win on Saturday and a 12–4 win on Sunday.

Freshman catcher Michael Cantu has been a bright spot during Texas’ struggles. Cantu had four hits and walked four times this weekend against Oklahoma.

When Texas dropped its third-consecutive three-game series Sunday, associate head coach Skip Johnson decided to deliver a “sermon” after the game.

After a 3–2 loss to Oklahoma, in which the Longhorns had 11 hits but only scored twice, Johnson’s message was simple. “You got to do better,” said Johnson.

“You got to convert and take quality at-bats in timely situations,” head coach Augie Garrido said. “That’s really the problem. Last series at Oklahoma State, they had 17 RBIs, and we had five. It’s about RBIs.”

Texas has struggled lately to bring runs home. In Friday’s game against the Sooners, the Longhorns had the bases loaded in the first inning but only scored one run. Texas had the bases loaded Sunday, but, again, it brought just one run home.

“We hit balls hard, but they just didn’t fall for us,” freshman catcher Michael Cantu, who had four hits and four walks against Oklahoma, said. “We squared some balls up with runners in scoring position; they just didn’t fall. It’s frustrating.”

While the players were frustrated with the lack of clutch hitting, Garrido was upset about the many losses the team has accumulated. The Longhorns have lost nine of their last 11 games — five of the last six conference games — and they have fallen from first to fifth place in the Big 12.

“[This weekend] was more frustrating because the losses are piling up,” Garrido said. “If you look at it, you know that’s what it’s about. … It’s just the number of losses that are frustrating.”

Although the losses have been frustrating, Cantu said the team needs to keep grinding and focusing on one game at a time.

“We just need to stay focused and composed,” Cantu said. “Baseball is a frustrating game, and it’s just how you react to it and keep rolling.”

Texas (19–17, 6–6 Big 12) will look to have a positive reaction to Johnson’s postgame comments when it takes on Sam Houston State (19–19) Tuesday night at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.

The Bearkats enter the game on a five-game winning streak, including a three-game sweep of Incarnate Word, a team the Longhorns defeated, 7–1, on March 10.

With Sam Houston State in town, Texas will try to get back on track. With a little over a month of baseball remaining, Garrido said the team is in danger of failing and missing out on its goal of a return trip to the College World Series.

“We still have a mission to follow,” Garrido said. “If we win the conference and don’t go to the regionals or lose in the first round of the regionals, this season was a disaster. … If we don’t go to the super regionals [or] if we don’t go to the College World Series, we have lost.”

After a nine-game winning streak, including three wins against No. 22 Kansas, Texas dropped three straight to Oklahoma at the Red and Charline McCombs Field over the course of the weekend.

In the softball edition of the Red River Rivalry, the Sooners entered the matchup with a 28–24 advantage, but the Longhorns were hopeful they could produce.

“We’re just going to try and go and attack them and see what we can do,” freshman pitcher Erica Wright said before the series. “They are a really good team obviously, but we’re a good team too.”

No. 5 Oklahoma (36–5, 9–0 Big 12) showed Texas (27–12, 3–3 Big 12) early how they had managed a 6–0 conference record and stayed at the top of the Big 12. Much of Oklahoma’s success arose thanks to freshman pitcher Paige Parker, who gave the Longhorns trouble all weekend. Parker earned two wins as she pitched 16 innings, struck out 21 batters and allowed just six hits and no runs.

In the first inning of the first game, Oklahoma senior first baseman Lauren Chamberlain led off with a double. Shortly after, senior shortstop Shelby Pendley brought her in on a two-run shot to give the Sooners a quick 2–0 lead. Texas sophomore shortstop Devon Tunning reached on an infield single in the bottom of the inning to improve her on-base streak to 22 games. But the next three batters went down, and the Longhorns left her there until the end of the inning.

The Longhorns provided a few reasons for optimism through the rest of the game, including a run-saving tag by junior catcher Erin Shireman in the third, another single for Tunning and a hit for junior outfielder Lindsey Stephens. But at the end of play, none rounded the bases, and the Longhorns lost, 8–0 — their biggest deficit of the season.

“We have to stay focused on ourselves and stay in attack mode,” head coach Connie Clark said.

And the Longhorns did that — for a little while, at least — in the next game.

In the second game of Friday’s doubleheader, the Longhorns jumped to a quick 1–0 lead on Stephens’ 13th home run of the season. With an offensive advantage, senior Gabby Smith stayed strong at the mound and retired the first 12 to keep Texas in the lead through four.

But in the top of the fifth, the Sooners quickly took over. Chamberlain hit one out of the park to tie up the score. Before the end of the inning, the Sooners scored another run off a hit by pitch with the bases loaded, putting them up one.

Down 3–1 after another Oklahoma run in the sixth, sophomore pinch hitter Mickenzi Krpec jumped on base from a single and advanced on an error to second. Unfortunately, the swing stopped there and three consecutive outs stranded Krpec on second for the remainder of play.

“They have a quality program and have quality athletes. We have a quality program, and we have quality athletes,” Clark said. “It really comes down to execution, making the pitch and competing well.”

The final contest failed to result in execution, as Parker held the Longhorns scoreless in seven innings of play. On Saturday, the Longhorns drew more walks than they had hits, as they had four walks and only two hits. When the last pitch had been thrown, the scoreboard read 4–0 in the Sooners’ favor.

The Longhorns play UT-Arlington on Wednesday at 6 p.m. at McCombs field.